Family Vacation

Once again, our family vacation consisted of an epic road trip to Texas. It is my kids' favorite place to go on vacation. It makes all of us happy. We had to drive through some bad storms on our way but seeing a double rainbow at the beginning of vacation is always a good sign.

 This year's trip was easier for me because I didn't have to drive at all. Este had his learner's permit and he drove while Aaron slept. I told him it will be good practice for him to drive while he is bored out of his mind. He drove the middle-of-the-night-shift when the it's only us and the truckers on the road. I thought I stayed awake while he was driving but he said I slept for most of it. If I remember right, the law only requires a parent to be in the passenger seat. It doesn't specify that parent has to be coherent. He was happy to drive because he easily met the required driving hours and he can now say he has driven in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Thanks to his good driving skills we arrived all in one piece.

As we were driving around the back roads of south Texas we stopped by some fields and Aaron cut a piece of sugar cane for the kids to taste.

Ethan enjoyed what appears to be a sugar cane cigar.

He also sampled some cotton from the field.

It was fun for the kids to learn about different crops in the area.

Next,  we headed for Mexico.

This time, a trip to Mexico required that we all have passports. Before our trip, we lined up all the kids and headed to the passport office with birth certicates, applications, and of course, money for each child. It was so worth it though. We went to one of our favorite Mexican towns where we can just walk across the border. We did the "tourist thing" and posed at the entrance.

Can you tell the kids were feeling the effects of the hot Texas sun? For our first purchase, we bought each of the kids a pair of "brand name" sunglasses for $5 each.

We spent the night at South Padre Island for the first time EVER!. We lived in the area for 10 years, went to the beach countless times, and never knew the sunset over Laguna Madre. The sunset was beautiful! I walked down the beach and saw a pelican just standing there. I had heard there were pelicans on the island but I had never seen one. I snapped this very stunning photo with the pelican in the corner of the frame and then realized it is just a statue!

The palm trees are real.

I woke up early the next morning and did my morning jog on the beach. I don't have any photos of the sunrise over the gulf because I didn't want to lug my camera on a six mile run. (If you know what it is like to run in South Texas you know, I had a hard enough time lugging myself on a six mile run!)

We enjoyed swimming in the warm water and spending time at the beach.

Those cute little goggles of Vanessa's were washed away in the waves shortly after taking this photo.

We also visited Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville. Vanessa was complaining about being hot and tired until she was cooled off by a pelican.

By the way, that is also a statue of a pelican.

Vanessa loved climbing trees in the zoo. This was right after her revelation that she was no longer a princess. Now she is a tom-boy.

Savanah found a sweet little friend to cuddle.

AJ returned to the spot where a gorilla traumatized him by slapping the window right in front of his face when he was a toddler. AJ recovered from the incident eventually and there was no terrorizing gorilla at the window this time.

Vanessa was not about to be terrorized by any gorilla.

Not only did we visit the zoo, we arrived in McAllen in time for the annual stake pioneer day celebration. One of the members brought several animals from their ranch to share. AJ loved the javelina (wild pig) and asked if we could take one home. The answer was absolutely NO!

Ethan liked to hen-hawk with talons for for feet. Not gonna take one of those home either.

The girls enjoyed riding the pony around.

We visted many friends and loved ones. Savanah bonded with the babies.....

.....and AJ bonded with the kitties.

After a few days in the Rio Grande Valley we headed to the Austin area to visit my sister and her family. Holly wanted me to go watch her at swimming lessons. This picture tells it all.

We met Amaia for the first time.

 

She was only 2 months old. Everyone enjoyed taking turns feeding her.

Milo seemed to enjoy hanging out with all our kids. I think he was quite entertained by all the craziness that accompanies a big family with teenagers.

 While in the Austin area we went out to eat some good ol' Texas BBQ. It is truly part of the whole Texas experience and there are not words to describe how good the food is.

 Ethan enjoyed the sandwich of all sandwiches.

 Vanessa enjoyed eating a rack of ribs. Have I ever mentioned this girl is a carnivore? We have never had a child who likes to eat meat as much as she does.

 Of course, Holly wanted her photo taken with the others. I really love this little girl.

The road trip home was just as epic as the road trip there. It left me wondering if traveling with toddlers or teenagers was harder. I never figured it out. I will say, that even with the boys' attitudes and endless teasing, we had the time of our lives on this family vacation.